Boy, I'm glad we missed out on Vernon Davis

Davis just wonders what it's all about
Tom FitzGerald, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, October 27, 2008

After getting tossed out of a game by his own coach, Vernon Davis said he didn't think he did anything wrong.

Shaking his head in the locker room, the *****' tight end said, "Not in my head. I don't think I did anything wrong. But when the coach thinks I did something wrong, I gotta listen to him. He's the boss."

Davis is no stranger to trouble - he is easily the team leader in practice-field fights and memorably had a swinging match with veteran guard Larry Allen in training camp in 2007.

This time Davis apparently outdid himself. He immediately got on the wrong side of head coach Mike Singletary by drawing an unnecessary-roughness penalty by mockingly tapping Seahawks free safety Brian Russell on the side of the facemask late in the third quarter Sunday.

Former ***** coach Mike Nolan usually stuck up for Davis whenever he got into a practice fight or dropped passes in games. Singletary was having none of that.

He not only yanked Davis from the game, he ordered him to the locker room with 10 minutes left.

"It was something that I told everybody at the very beginning of the week," Singletary said. "I will not tolerate players that think it's about them when it's about the team."

Davis' nonchalance when he left the field further got under Singletary's skin. "I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we got to do something else," Singletary said, "rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. ... Cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. Cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners."

Davis had just caught his fourth pass of the game, a 7-yarder near midfield. He and Russell immediately confronted each other. According to Davis, Russell razzed him, telling him, "Good play. Try again. Try harder." Davis said he didn't say anything in return, just gave him a light tap.

Was the 15-yard penalty a bad call? "Yeah, I really think it was a bad call," Davis said.

Singletary immediately called him out of the game, but Davis avoided the coach as he approached the sideline.

During a stoppage in play at the end of the quarter, Singletary sat with Davis on the bench. "He was talking about the game," Davis said. He said Singletary told him, " 'You gotta be smart. You can't do things like that.' "

He said he was surprised Singletary pulled him off the field.

"I guess he really didn't see what happened out there," Davis said. "I didn't swing on the guy. He didn't know. He saw it from afar and probably couldn't really tell what happened." But he added, "He's the head coach. Whatever he says, I've got to listen to him."

A couple of minutes later, after play resumed, Singletary told Davis to head for the showers. As Davis started off, the coach told him to go back and get his helmet. Then, Davis took the long walk to the dugout behind the south end zone and disappeared.

Singletary banished Davis even though, because of an elbow injury to Delanie Walker, it meant he had only one tight end left, Billy Bajema.

"I already know about coach Singletary," Davis said. "He wants to win, and he's a hard-working guy. He won't tolerate anything." He called Singletary "an emotional guy, like myself. He wants to win. I did exactly what he told me to do. He is the head coach. I listen to him. He just told me to come in, so I went in."

He tried to approach Singletary in the locker room after the game, but Singletary told him, "You do not want to talk with me now. I assure you, you do not want to talk to me."

The sixth player picked overall in the 2006 draft, Davis has been a strong blocker but has frustrated the organization and fans with his failures as a receiver. Even when he caught 52 passes last year, it was felt he should have been a much bigger part of the offense, given his strength and speed. He has been criticized for dropping passes and not being better able to gain separation from defenders.

He hasn't endeared himself to fans by pounding his chest after fairly routine catches.

This year he has 16 catches for 196 yards. He hasn't scored a touchdown in 2008 and has just seven in his three-year career.

Re: Boy, I'm glad we missed out on Vernon Davis

i wonder how Vernon`s bad play and in particular his bad attitude will effect his kid brother Vontae`s stock when he comes out in next Aprils draft..he`s been tipped to be possibly the first corner drafted,but will teams look at what his older brother has shown and think now that the kid comes from bad stock?

although Chris Long has shown he`s a great player in his own rite,theres no doubting that the fact he comes from good bloodlines has boosted his profile in the past...

Re: Boy, I'm glad we missed out on Vernon Davis

Davis has been a strong blocker but has frustrated the organization and fans with his failures as a receiver.

Anybody who tells you they saw this sentence coming in 2006 is lying to you.

This guy was supposed to be the new mold for all receiving TEs to come. It was his blocking that was questionable at the time.

"Before the gates of excellence the high gods have placed sweat; long is the road thereto and rough and steep at first; but when the heights are reached, then there is ease, though grievously hard in the winning." --- Hesiod